Page 21 of Ruck Me

“At the risk of repeating myself, I’m not sure I follow.”

“You’ve seen the girls who throw themselves at Declan, right?”

She rolled her eyes. “It’d be hard to missthem.”

“Exactly,” I said, wrapping her hand in mine. The longer this conversation went on, the more I got the impression she didn’t think this was a good idea, which increased my need to touch her, to form a stronger connection betweenus.

“I’m no Declan O’Shaughnessy, but I do all right.” I shrugged and her eyes flashed with … jealousy?

Interesting.

“They don’t really know us, but it doesn’t matter. They just want to say they fucked one of us. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I stay away from the ones who wind up accidentally getting pregnant and then demanding a ring. You’re different. We’re already friends and you certainly don’t care about the rugby thing. And let’s not forget, when we’re not bickering we get along great.”

“I know, but be your girlfriend? Isn’t that a bit sudden?”

“Are you serious?”

“I am,” she answered emphatically. “Completely and utterly serious. I mean it, I wasn’t expecting this. I didn’t think this would lead to that. It’s not why I agreed toit.”

“I know,” I said, smiling. “Which is why it’s such a greatidea.”

“I don’t know, Eoin,” she hedged, looking out the window to the deserted street. “It’s kind of a big deal. Can’t we just keep hanging out and see where itgoes?”

Her eyes came back to mine, pleading, and I fought to keep the hurt from my face. Because yeah, it hurt to hear her say that. I didn’t make rash decisions—that wasn’t me. Except it seemed where Aoife was concerned, that’s all I’d been doing. My first leap of faith hadn’t turned out so bad, but this one? Ouch.

“Yeah, sure. Of course.” I plastered a bemused smile on my face. “But in the meantime, I really should get you back to Ballycurra. I have to be up early for training tomorrow. It’s weights, so it’s going to be brutal.”

Settling my hands on Aoife’s hips, I helped her from my lap and gave her another smile. I hoped I wasn’t overselling it but I didn’t want her to know her rejection stung. Eventually, she smiled back but it didn’t reach her eyes. I opened the door and stepped into the cold night before jogging around to open her door. I might be hurt, but I was still a gentleman.

“Thanks,” she murmured, sliding into the frontseat.

The drive back to Ballycurra slipped by in silence. Pulling up next to Aoife’s car, she hopped out like her seat was on fire. “Thanks for tonight,” she said, leaning back in. Then, hesitantly, “Should I call you later thisweek?”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever works. I might not answer right away though.”

“Yup, I know the drill.”

I nodded. “Okay then, I’ll talk to you later,” I said, keeping my eyes focused straight ahead.

“Eoin?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re not mad, areyou?”

Shit. Maybe I hadn’t done a job hiding my emotions. I took a deep breath and unclenched my hands from the wheel. Turning to face the girl who’d just gutted me, I said, “No, I’m not mad. You’re probably right.” I laughed and hoped it didn’t sound too bitter. “Imagine you being the one to put the brakes on a badplan.”

Ignoring the jibe, she studied me. “If you’re surethen?”

“Yup,” I said, needing to get the hell out of there. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep up theact.

“Okay, byethen.”

Aoife stood there, staring at me through the window, while I stared back. I wasn’t going to be the first one to look away. I wasn’t going to let her see how her rejection stung. Eventually, she drew in a deep breath and started digging through her purse for her keys. When she found them, she raised her hand in farewell and climbed in her front seat. When her headlights flicked on, I eased my car out of her way and she pulled out of the space and exited the car park. Following behind a few hundred meters, Aoife eventually turned left while I turned right to headhome.

As I did, I couldn’t help but think it was the perfect metaphor for how tonight had gone: Aoife wanted our relationship to go one way, while I wanted another.

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